If you were to ask the everyday person about saving money they would tell you how important it is, but in the same breath they’ll probably tell you how much they struggle with it.
This is why money saving challenges are a great way to encourage and motivate you to save money. There are many reasons as to why you should save money, such as to buy a new car, put down a house deposit, for a rainy day, or even just for some new clothes. But, there are better reasons to save other than material goods.
Some of the pros of saving money is that great feeling you get from the long-term achievement, the knowledge that you can buy something that you may have wanted for some time, learning self-control, and the comfort of knowing that you’d be ok in an emergency. However, often we are tempted to mindlessly spend money, so it’s no surprise people are struggling to save money.
That’s why we’ve gathered some great money saving challenges to get you started!
£1 Challenge
There’s never a bad time to start saving money, however, the earlier you start the more you’ll be able to save and healthier savings habits will soon become second nature. By starting the £1 saving challenge on January 1st and saving just £1 a day, you’ll be able to save £365 for the whole year. This is an easy and affordable way to save over the long-term, as a lot of people wouldn’t notice such a small amount leaving their account each day. However, if you can afford to save more and want a challenge, there’s nothing stopping you from increasing this to £2 a day or £3 a day. This would let you save up to £730 or £1,095, over the course of a year. Then once the year is over, there’s nothing stopping you from keeping this going and having it become a regular occurrence. This would help you save a lot each year, without really noticing.
1p Challenge
Another cheap and effective savings challenge you can undertake is the 1p challenge. To take part all you need to do is save a few pennies every day. This type of challenge would be great to start at the beginning of the year, or a year prior to when you’ll need the money. Whether it’s for spending money on a holiday, or to go towards a big purchase or event. To take part, on the first day of the challenge simply save 1 pence, then on the second day save 2 pence and on the third day save 3 pence and so on. If you keep this going for a full year, by the last day you’ll be saving £3.65 on the final day, leaving you with a total of £667.95. This challenge is easy to achieve and especially suitable if you have a lower budget. With the low amount you’ll likely not even notice what you’re putting away and how much you manage to save at the end of it. If you’ve got a bigger budget and are looking to save some more, we’ve got some more challenges that may be more suitable for you.
No Spend Savings Challenge
Taking part in a no spend savings challenge can be a very effective way to not only save money, but also introduce healthier spending habits into your day-to-day life. To start, choose a time frame to complete the challenge, whether that’s 30 days, a few months or longer. During this time the only items you should be purchasing or spending money on are essentials to your life, such as bills and utilities, food, fuel or transport costs etc. There are a lot of pros to saving this way, for example, if you usually overspend when shopping for food, you may find that you’re wasting less, or if you tend to splurge on clothing or purchasing items that aren’t necessities, you may find you have less clutter in your home. A great time to start this challenge is a month where you don’t have many plans, this way your saving challenge won’t be derailed if any social events come up. For more information here’s our guide to help you to cut your spending.
Monthly Savings Challenge
If you’d rather save once a month, rather than every day or week why not take part in a monthly savings challenge. Simply start by selecting a month and saving £10, then the following month save £20 and the 3rd month would be £30. After a year the challenge should leave you with £780. You can start this challenge whenever you’d like, however, waiting until payday and setting the money aside straight away would be a better time to start and easier to continue doing in the months that follow. This would allow you to easily keep track of your progressive savings and you would gradually get used to saving the increased amount each month. The end goal you achieve in this challenge is also higher than the £1 or 1p challenge, but it’s still easily achievable. Setting the money aside once you’ve been paid can also help you set a budget each month, once you know how much of your pay you have left. To help you work out your monthly budget follow our guide.
The 52 Week Challenge
This weekly savings challenge is slightly more difficult as it’ll eventually require a larger amount of savings. On the first week you save £1, then on the second week save £2 and on the third week save £3, all the way up to 52 weeks where the final amount you put away is £52. By the end of the challenge the challenger should have saved £1,378. The benefit of this challenge is that it is very easy to start at the beginning of the year and you’re able to regularly track your progress, which would give you a sense of accomplishment and motivate you to keep going, despite the gradual increase in the amount you are saving. However, this challenge is more ambitious and does require a slightly bigger budget than the other savings challenges, but your efforts would be rewarded with a much larger total amount saved. This would be especially beneficial if you’re saving towards a bigger goal such as a big purchase, or perhaps something happening in a year’s time like an event or upcoming holiday.
There are so many benefits to taking the first step and starting to save money for your future. Whether it’s working towards your savings goals, adopting healthier saving and spending habits in your day-to-day life or creating a nest egg for a rainy day. It can be daunting if you don’t have much experience saving, which is why an interactive savings challenge can not only be a fun way to start, but also give you a sense of achievement and a level of security should you need to dip into your savings. If you need some support or encouragement, why not take up a challenge with a friend or your family. Seeing each other succeed could give you the motivation to keep going should you find it difficult. For more savings information, here are some money-saving tips from Britain’s best savers.
If none of these challenges are for you, or if a challenge doesn’t work, take a look at some of our savings tips that can help you learn how to save money easily. There’s also nothing to stop you from tailoring a challenge to suit your needs better. Everyone’s finances are different and as such, different challenges will suit different people. What’s important is sticking to an achievable goal and learning how to incorporate saving into your daily life.
